Musings of a Hufflepuff
by Year2Hufflepuff
Summary: Jennifer lives in Springfield, Ohio. But after a horrifying experiance at a diner, she and her friends Jane and Emma are dragged off to Hogwarts. takes place a little before epilogue to harry potter 7
1. What Happens When You Blow Up a Diner?

**MUSINGS OF A HUFFLEPUFF**

_Sadly, I don't own Hogwarts or the subjects or most of the other things in this story. However, I do own... a muffin! _

** Chapter 1:**

**What Happens When You Blow Up A Diner?**

_Jennifer_

My name is Jennifer Fitzgerald. I am 11 years old and I live in Springfield, Ohio. I also have two friends named Jane Deerfield and Emma Decksworth. The become important later on, and you'll see why, but first, I think it would be best to start with the night I blew up Divee Diner.

It was a clear summer night, and Jane, Emma, and I had decided to go out for a bit of fun. So we hopped in my mom's van and drove out to Divee Diner, a little place out in Oakwood Village. We climbed out and said "Bye" to our escort. When we walked in, no one payed a bit of attention to us. See, that's what's great about the Divee, it's the kind of place where no one pays any mind to three kids out without a parent.

No sooner had we sat down, though, when Jane shot a glance at two weirdos in robes and masks at the other side of the room, and stood back up. "Guys, we should leave." she said, and made for the door.

"Get...back...here..." I grunted, pulling her back to her seat. "What is with you?"I demanded, staring her in the face. Sure, those guys were a little creepy, but that was no reason to ditch us. It was weird, but Jane had always been more confident. But now she was shaking just at the sight of a couple of creepers in cloaks. It made me genuinely puzzled.

Jane's face was a picture of terror. "We need to leave. I'll explain later." I glanced over at Emma. She mouthed the words; _We should do what she says._I raised my eyebrows, but we followed her towards the door. Just then, though, the people in robes stood up and blocked our way. They drew things that looked like thin, well crafted rods, and pointed them at us.

"Where do you think you're going, Mudbloods?" said one of them in a deep, rumbling voice that made me shiver. I looked at Emma, then Jane. Emma looked as bewildered as me, but Jane looked like she knew exactly what he had said, and had gone from scared to angry.

"For the record," she said loudly so all the diner could hear, "I am a half-blood, and 'Mudblood' is a very offensive and politically incorrect term." I could see her shaking with rage.

"Oh, the little one has something to say, does she?" taunted the other man, with a slightly squeakier voice. "Oh, she's so cute, I don't even think she's at Hogwarts yet! Hmm... I guess we'll have to teach her a lesson in manners! _Crucio!_" He yelled, and there was a red light. What happened next confused me and angered me at the same time. Jane was thrown into the air. She twisted and writhed in pain, and screamed loudly. I got a glance at her face, and it was clear to me that, although I didn't understand how, she was being tortured.

"ENOUGH!" I yelled, and, suddenly, there was an explosion. The walls of the diner burst apart. Strangely, no one seemed harmed except the two men, who lay on the ground, knocked out by shrapnel. Everyone else just seemed thoroughly shaken and confused. I would have taken more time to think about what had just happened, but Jane had come to and was dragging me and Emma, who was all but immobile with fear, away from where Divee Diner had once stood. She was muttering strange things.

"Come on... the Ministry of Magic will be here any minute now, or worse... the Death Eaters..."

"Jane, can I ask you a question?" inquired Emma. This was the first time she had spoken since the blowing up of Divee.

"Yeah?" responded Jane absentmindedly.

"Are you feeling alright?"


	2. Jane Explains

_Again, I don't own Harry Potter, no matter how much I wish I did._

**Chapter 2:**

**Jane Explains**

_Emma_

You would think that after some weird guys in cloaks tortured her and Jennifer blew up her favorite restaurant, Jane would be emotionally scarred for life, or at least show some sign of insanity. But, other than the fact that she was talking nonsense, she seemed fairly sane.

Jennifer whipped out her phone and called her mom, who gave us a ride to Jane's house. Jane's mother is a little bit odd. Her father's perfectly normal, but whenever we come over, her mom seems overly fake, and sometimes she looks amazed at everyday objects like an Ipod.

Not that my own life hasn't been weird enough. Like, back in second grade when Ernie Mitchell made fun of my clothes, he went home with a nose bigger than his head. I still have no idea how that happened. And when my parents wouldn't let me go to Delphine White's sleepover, I woke up in the middle of the night outside her door.

Well, anyway, after we had eaten, we went up and slept in sleeping bags on the floor of Jane's room. When I fell asleep, I had nightmares. A few involved killer bunnies, but one of them was very vivid and scary.

_I stood in darkness. I couldn't see anything. I walked around for a while, confused. "Jane? Jennifer?" I called, unable to see in any direction. Suddenly, I heard a voice. "Where do you think you're going, Mudbloods?" _

_I whirled and found myself staring at...my own back! On one side of me stood Jane, and on the other, Jennifer. I gasped. Facing them were the men in masks we had seen at Divee. Then Jane spoke, and her voice rang clear as day. _

_"For the record, I am a half-blood, and 'Mudblood' is a very offensive and politically incorrect term." Was it just me, or was I having a supreme case of d__éjà vu__? All this had happened before, in Divee diner, earlier that night. _

_I zoned out while thinking that, until I heard that one word. "Crucio!" Jane flew into the air. She screamed and writhed in pain...no, I couldn't see this again... the man in the mask holding his stick, and suddenly, I ran forward and ripped off his mask. He payed me no notice. In fact, he couldn't even see me! And his face was so full of hate and joy. He liked watching her scream. She yelled loudly, and the man began to laugh. Laughing...laughing at her pain..._

"No!" I yelled, and sat up straight in bed. Suddenly, I realized that there was no dark room. No laughing man. I was safe, at Jane's house. I looked over at Jennifer. She had slept through it. She looked like she was dreaming peacefully. I had a sudden urge to draw a mustache on her with a Sharpie. She wouldn't yell at me. She's too nice. But then, I was too nice to draw it, anyway.

I looked over to see if I had woken Jane, when I realized she wasn't there! I crept downstairs to see where she had gone, and immediately froze. I heard Jane talking to her mother.

"Toadell will have you girls go early, it seems." said her mom, and I heard her slurping something, probably coffee, seeing as it was somewhere around midnight.

"Wow. That's good, right? It means I don't have to wait as long. We'll only have two days to prepare, though." Jane sounded really excited, and I wondered who Toadell was and where we would be going.

"We'll have to take you to London tomorrow, to buy your books. I really hope Floo powder can take us all that way. I must say, it was a lot easier to get to everything when the U.S. wasn't within the jurisdiction of the British Ministry of Magic."

There was that phrase again. Ministry of Magic? I decided that both Jane and her mother were incurably insane. I continued listening to them, though.

"Wait." said Jane's mom, stopping for a moment. "Somebody's listening to us." I scrambled to get back upstairs, but I was too late. Jane and her mom had found me. I sighed in defeat and walked downstairs.

"Emma?" said Jane, surprised. "Oh wow... We didn't mean for you to hear that... how much did you hear?"

I shrugged. "Only enough to make me sure that you are both off your rockers!"

She looked unfazed. "Emma, would you get Jennifer? I think you both deserve an explanation."

In a moment, all four of us were seated in beanbags in her living room. Jennifer looked thoroughly confused, although I was pretty sure that this was because she had just been woken and dragged downstairs, and all of us knew that Jennifer wasn't a morning person. Her short brown hair was flying every which way, and her eyelids were half closed over her brown eyes.

Jane cleared her throat. "I'm sorry for waking you guys up so late, but I think you ought to know what's going on. I guess I should start at the beginning, with what we are."

"Jennifer." She grunted, still half-asleep. "Tonight, you blew up a diner. I know you didn't do that on purpose. That was your powers as a witch awakening." Jennifer opened her mouth to say something, but Jane cut her off.

"It's actually rather late for them to manifest. Emma, strange things have been happening to you since you were two. Anyway, you, me, my mom... we're witches.

Under normal circumstances, I would have called her a liar, or crazy. But after this explanation, everything else that had happened that night made sense. "That man at the Divee. He called us a name."

Jane spat on the ground. "He was a Death Eater. They used to follow this Dark wizard named Voldemort, before a guy named Harry Potter killed him. Anyway, he called you a Mudblood, a seriously offensive term for a muggle-born." I raised my eyebrows. "That means your parents aren't wizards."

After this, she returned to explaining. "So the U.S. and England are both under the Ministry of Magic. They regulate the use of magic so Muggles don't find out about us. Anyway, in two days, we're going early to a school called Hogwarts."

"Wait, why are we going early? It's not even September yet!" I exclaimed. This was very true. It was only August 26.

"I know, but Headmaster Toadell wants us to start early so we don't get attacked again." She explained. I could see why it might be safer if we didn't stay here.

"So when are we leaving?" asked Jennifer. She was clearly excited.

"We leave for London tomorrow morning." replied Jane. "Now go back to bed."


	3. How to Get to London The Short Way

_I don't own Harry Potter, still, but I'm working on it...JK._

_Jennifer:but you own me, right?_

_Me:Yeah, sure, Vanessa._

_Jennifer: MY NAME IS JENNIFER!_

**How to Get to London The Short Way**

**(Jane)**

Alright, after hearing the story from the point of view of two Muggle-borns who had no idea what was going on, I bet you are real glad you've got me, now. So, anyway, Jennifer and Emma slept pretty well considering they had just been told they were witches and were now going off to a school they'd never heard of before. Anyway, overnight, my mom sorted the whole thing out with Jane and Emma's parents. They were thrilled that their children would be going to a "special private school in London" for "very gifted children" for "no tuition." During this whole thing, I konked out on the couch in the living room.

In the morning, I slept in till about 9 in the morning, at which time Jennifer and Emma were already awake. My mom, apparently, had taken them to their houses to pack their clothes. "What do they need Muggle clothes for?" I asked.

"You might want to pack some too." She replied. "For the journey to and from the school."

Then, after a hurried breakfast, we gathered in the living room. Everyone watched excitedly as Mom whipped out her wand and started a fire in the fireplace. I remembered they hadn't seen magic before except the curse the Death Eater had used on me and Jennifer's explosion. She took out our jar of powder and said to Jennifer and Emma;

"This is Floo Powder. It will get us to London." she explained, tossing it into the flames, which turned bright green. "You just walk into the fire, and say where you want to go. In this case, we're going to a place called the Leaky Cauldron."

She walked calmly into the flames, and said loudly "The Leaky Cauldron!" There was a _whoosh_, and she was gone.

Jennifer looked first at me, then at Emma. "So, which one of you is going first?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going last, to make sure none of you chicken out." It was, after all, not my first time traveling with Floo powder.

Emma, looking nervous, stepped into the fire and shouted, "The Leaky Cauldron!" with another _whoosh_, she, too had disappeared. Jennifer looked at me, and said, "I am not going in there."

"Jennifer, you have to!" I told her. "I'll push you if you don't!"

Jennifer looked hesitent, but stepped into the fire and virtually screamed; "THE LEAKY CAULDRON!" and she was gone. I looked around, and quietly followed.


	4. My Hair Turns Green

_Gee guys. One review. That's just a little sad. Review, review, review people!_

_Anyway, I don't own Harry Potter. Most of my characters are OCs, but some characters and Hogwarts, Hogsmede, ect. belong to JK Rowling and ONLY JK Rowling. Not me._

**Chapter 4:**

**My Hair Turns Green**

_Jennifer_

Might I take a moment to say this: Floo powder is the worst possible way to travel. It's a little hard to explain but after that incident, I never wanted to take Floo powder again. After Jane so rudely threatened me into walking into the fire, I was sucked into a tunnel of green flames an fireplaces. The wind was so strong I could hardly breathe, but after a few seconds I tumbled out of a fireplace, covered in ashes and with a bruised knee.

I found myself in a grubby bar. A crazy looking guy behind a counter was serving strange drinks to weird people in robes. I shuddered at the resemblance of the robes to the ones the Death Eaters in the Divee had worn. I was sure that if the Board of Health inspected this place, it would be shut down.

Seconds after I burst out, Jane calmly walked after me. I shot her a glare, but didn't say anything. Rather, I sat up and rubbed my injured knee. I noticed that Jane, her mom, and Emma were all staring at me strangely. I stood up.

"What?" I looked at them angrily. I hated it when people stared at me. It made me feel weird. Nobody answered me. "WHAT?"

Emma was the one who answered me first. "You-your hair." She stated. My hand flew immediately to my head.

"What about my hair?" I demanded. "Sure, it's probably all messed up, no thanks to Floo Powder, but come on guys..."

I trailed off, because I had just seen my reflection in a grimy mirror. My hair, as expected, was messed up, tangled, and slightly singed, but that wasn't what made me gasp. The weird thing was, my hair was bright green. I pulled at it. Still green. Was I going insane?"

Jane gasped. "Jennifer, you didn't tell us you were a Metamorphimagus!"

"A Metawhatsawhosit?" I asked, confused.

Jane hopped up and down excitedly. "It means you can change your appearance at will! Of course, generally, it would have shown up before now. It's almost as weird as your late power development. Hmm..."

"Whatever, how do I change my hair back to its normal color?" I demanded.

"Well, seeing as you can change it at will, I'm assuming all you need to do is concentrate." Jane shrugged. "I don't really know much about it, it's such a rare gift. Wow!"

"So I can just do this..." I screwed up my eyes "And I can...whoa." My hair had turned neon orange.

Jane's mom surprised me by speaking, which she hadn't done since we'd arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. "But why hasn't it taken effect until now?" She looked confused. "Normally, you would have been able to change your appearance since the moment you were born!"

There was a loud _CRACK! _and a woman in a green robe appeared in midair. "Morning, Deerfield." she said, nodding to Jane's mom. She surveyed the room and made a sort of tisking noise.

"Excuse me, but who are you, exactly?" I inquired, a little annoyed.

The woman cleared her throat. "Eh-hem. Of course. The name's Catastria Stone. I'm Head of the Department of the Improper Use of Magic Office. Now, about your Metamorphimagus powers... Eh hem." She pulled a piece of crinkly paper out of her robe pocket. "Let's see... Ah, yes."

She began to read from it. "Your magic powers and, er, unusual metamorphosing abilities, would have caused a great deal of trouble for us in the Improper Use of Magic Office, so we had to... er...suppress your powers until such a time as they became necessary.

Emma, Jane, and I opened our mouths to say something, but Catastria Stone cut us off. "You must understand that this was necessary. Due to the nature of your personality, there would be no doubt that if you discovered you had magical powers, you wouldn't hesitate to tell everyone you knew! As for the metamorphosing, that's standard procedure, so that anyone present at your birth wouldn't notice anything odd."

I still thought it was unfair, but I chose not to say anything, so instead I nodded quietly. With another screwing up of my eyes, I returned my hair to its normal color. Satisfied, Catastria Stone disappeared with another _CRACK!_

I looked around again, and noticed that everyone had stopped talking and was staring at me. "What? I demanded, and everyone reluctantly returned to their separate conversations. Jane's mom finally clapped her hands and said, "Okay, let's check in or room!"

_Okay guys, I'm not updating again till I get 5 reviews. So tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell your enemies! Tell your pets! Read and review!_


	5. The Invisible Alleyway:part 1

_Thank all people for the wonderful reviews. And to Lila and Ravenclawperson, I have got your characters and am adding them! Woo! From now on all chapters are from Jennifer's perspective because it's hard to switch perspectives!_

_I don't own Harry Potter. Most of my characters are OCs, but some characters and Hogwarts, Hogsmede, ect. belong to JK Rowling and ONLY JK Rowling. Not me. _

**The Invisible Alleyway**

Jane's mom didn't waste any time getting out of the Leaky Cauldron, and I didn't blame her. The place was beginning to give me the creeps. We were shown up to a shabby room on the second floor of the inn. I walked into the room. The windows were dirty and the floor creaked. I tested the mattress with my hand. It was nearly all unstuffed.

"Merlin's pants, this place is a dump" remarked Jane, as she set down her trunk. Her mother looked at her reprimandingly, but Jane just rolled her eyes. She stepped onto the threadbare carpet and it let out a cloud of dust, causing me to sneeze a cluster of about 7 sneezes. I have _really_ bad allergies.

"Gesundheit!" added Emma, noticing my allergy attack.

"This is the best room I could get." Jane's mom told us. I didn't say this aloud, but if this was the _best,_ I didn't want to see the other rooms. I tried not to be to offensive to her, but I couldn't help noticing a rat scurry by and head under the bed. I made a mental note not to reach under there.

After we dumped out stuff in out room, Jane's mom rushed us out the back door into a small back area enclosed by a tall brick wall. There were several black garbage bags in the corner. I stood there for a while, and then said;

"Wow. Garbage. So magical. I definitely couldn't have seen _that_ when I was living with Muggles."

Emma gave me a stern look, as if to say _Don't be mean._

Jane's mom ignored me and took out a long, thin stick like the ones the Death Eaters had used to torture Jane. I shuddered. She began to tap bricks in a seemingly random order, and muttered something under her breath. Suddenly, the bricks began to shift, moving, turning like machinery, until the brick wall had an archway carved into it. I looked at it amazed.

"Um, sorry, Mrs. Deerfield." I muttered, still in awe of the magic. I liked to count that as my first real encounter with magic, since the Death Eaters in the Divee hadn't used nice magic, and somehow, I didn't count Floo powder.

She motioned us through the arch into an incredible street, bustling with robed wizards and witches, some leading children about my age in regular clothes, and older kids already wearing robes, carrying bags and bundles and piles of strange objects. One mother lead a kid maybe one year older than me into a shop, saying; "You'll need these if you want to try out for Quiddich..." I passed several shops, like Flourish and Blott's, a store with many strange books in the windows, and a building with a sign that said Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, with windows filled with punching telescopes and boxes of fireworks. Squinting, I managed to make out a tall man with red hair sitting behind the desk. Was it just me, or did he look sort of sad?

Finally, we stopped in front of a marble building, with **GRINGOTTS** carved into the rock above the door. It was awe-inspiringly tall, with columns that reached all the way up. The windows were engraved with a golden text that read;

_Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed  
For those who take but do not earn  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there. _

Intimidated by this, I took my attention elsewhere. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I looked up to the top, which must have been several hundreds of feet above the ground. I would have spent more time admiring, but Mrs. Deerfield pushed us through the large doorway. Once again, I stopped in my tracks.

The Gringotts lobby incredibly grand. Gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and expensive-looking carpet covered the floor. Dark wooden desks bordered the room. Odd creatures with long pointy ears and scowls on their faces stood behind the desks.

"Goblins." muttered Jane. "Don't want to mess with them." I thought back to the poem on the door and silently agreed.

Her mom walked calmly up to a desk and, digging in her bag for a moment and pulled out two lead keys. She placed them on the desk in front of a particularly unpleasant-looking goblin, and stated, "We need to make a withdrawal from vaults number 386 and 548." The goblin nodded and said; "Very well" and another goblin appeared, took the keys, and ushered us through another archway into a long tunnel. We climbed into a small rickety cart. It didn't look as if it could support the weight of one adult, two normal sized eleven-year-olds, one underweight eleven-year-old, and a goblin, but it did.

"You don't get motion-sickness, do you?" asked Jane, but it was too late. The cart gave a lurch, and sped off down the rusted track. I didn't get motion-sickness, but I did scream a lot. The goblin gave me an annoyed glare, but, hey, this is why I don't go on roller coasters! Finally, the car gave another unpleasant lurch, and stopped rather abruptly in front of vault number 386.

Mrs. Deerfield stepped out, and we followed. The vault in front of us was large, bulky, and made of metal. An elaborate lock consisted of several bars of metal interlocking and twisting around each other. In the center of the complicated web was a brass plate with a keyhole in it. Jane's mom handed one of the keys to the goblin, who inserted it into the keyhole. With a sharp turn, the bars began to untwist themselves, freeing themselves from the tangle and straightening out into plain rods, which then hung down straight from the sides of the vault. The goblin pulled at a handle and the doors came open, revealing the treasures inside.

Jane and her mother didn't have much reaction, but Emma and I looked confusedly first at the contents of vault number 386, then at each other. Then, Emma giggled.

"What?" I demanded, irritated. Emma handed me a makeup mirror. To my amusement, it appeared that I had lost control of my metawhatsawhositing once again. Freckles had sprung up on my face and collected to form a giant question mark. I managed to dissolve it, but I kept the freckles, which were kind of cute.

Anyway, back to the contents of vault 386. The large metal safe contained several piles of coins. There were large, gold coins, mini bronze coins, and medium-sized silver coins. Mrs. Deerfield held up one of the bronze ones.

"These are Knuts. They probably won't buy much except maybe a newspaper. She then held up one of the silver coins. "This is a Sickle. There are 29 Knuts in a Sickle. And there are.." Here she picked up a gold coin. "These are Galleons. There are 17 sickles in a Galleon. You can remember them because gold and Galleon both start with a G. Get it?"

Emma and I nodded, and then Jane's mom took two bags and put a number of coins into each.

"These will be your budget for the day."

_I'm sorry this chapter is cut off, but it's getting to be really long and it's been ages since I posted a chapter. Also, check out my FictionPress story, .com/s/2865774/1/Liberator. If you want me to post chapter 2 of it, review it!_


	6. The Invisible Alleyway: Part 2

_Sorry again for the long wait._

_Harry Potter isn't mine._

_Correction: McGonagall is still headmistress._

**Chapter 6: **

**The Invisible Alleyway Part 2**

Jane's mom handed Emma and I each a bag.

"The ministry makes allowances for Muggle-borns who have no wizard money. There is a standard amount corresponding to the amount needed to buy your supplies. Now come on."

Everyone climbed back into the cart, which sped off into the tunnels. In the blur, I thought I saw a girl with long brown hair on another cart, beginning to look a bit green. But in a second, she was gone, and there were only the dark walls of the tunnel. We were still moving at breakneck speed, and although Jane had done this before, and I was immune to motion sickness, Emma wasn't looking too good. Finally, the car jerked to a stop in front of vault #548. Mrs. Deerfield, Jane, and I got out of the cart, and then Emma followed, leaning dizzily on a stalagmite. (Yes, I know the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite!) The goblin once again inserted the key and twisted. The door unlocked and swung open. Jane's mother scraped a few coins into a bag, and said;

"Alright, we're done here. Let's go."

It was a long ride back to the lobby, after which Emma needed to lie down, but finally, they emerged onto the street. The crowds of bustling people were still intimidating. Jane's mom cleared her throat. "Hem. Do you all have your lists?"

We just looked confused at her. "OH! Sorry! I forgot to give you your letters!" She handed each of us an envelope. I slipped my finger under the wax seal and opened it. Pulling out the parchment inside, I read aloud.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall

Dear Miss Fitzgerald,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Warren Toadell  
Deputy Headmaster

"Okay. Your list is on the second page." advised Mrs. Deerfield.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WHICHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM  
First-year students will require:  
sets of plain work robes (black)  
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)  
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)  
by Miranda Goshawk

A Comprehensive Wizarding History by Lisa Turpin

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi  
by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them  
by Newt Scamander

Basic Magical Defense: Shields, Jinxes, Countercurses and More

by Dahlia Stonehouse

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Jane groaned. "These books are really old! They're then same ones that Harry Potter himself used. Why in the name of Merlin's-"Here her mother gave her a look, "haven't they updated their booklist in, like, 20 years? The only two they changed were the History of Magic and Defense against the Dark Arts books. "

I quietly ignored Jane's ranting, and tried to control my excitement. "So, where do we go first?" I asked. "Do we get the books, or the cauldron, or the scales, or the wand-"

"Hold it!" Jane's mom smiled, amused. "We'll get your robes first."

Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions was a rather small, but well-kept storefront. Madam Malkin herself was a pleasant woman, who ushered us in and handed us each a robe. She instructed us to put them on so she could size them. Mine was far too big; the sleeves went down to my knees. As she was pinning up the hems, I twisted around. Standing nearby waiting to be sized, was the same girl I'd seen at Gringotts.

"Hey," I said, in an attempt to be friendly. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Hi" She responded in an English accent. "I'm Lila."

"I'm Jennifer." I introduced myself.

"So you're a first year like me?" She asked, smiling. She was a few inches taller than me, and she wore a pair of black jeans and an electric blue T-shirt. Around her neck was a silver chain, from which hung a teardrop-shaped topaz.

"Yup." I nodded, and then gestured to Jane and Emma. "These are my friends, Jane Deerfield and Emma Decksworth. They're also first years."

"And we're American." Jane pointed out. Lila laughed.

"I noticed. So, what house are you aiming to be in?" she wondered. "I'd like to be in Hufflepuff. You know the house of the loyal and hardworking."

I just looked at her, bewildered. "What's a House?"

"OH. You're a Muggle-born. Well, that's all right. My mum's a Muggle-born, and my dad's a just plain Muggle! Don't make any difference. Well, anyway, the kids at Hogwarts are sorted into four houses, which pretty much reflect their personalities, like Gryffindors are supposed to be really brave, Ravenclaws are supposed to be really smart, Hufflepuffs are supposed to be really nice, and Slytherins…um…are supposed to be…like…uh…"

"Evil." finished Jane. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she had some serious issues with Slytherins.

After we were all done getting our robes, I decided to voice my own opinion. "I don't care what house I'm in, so long as it doesn't involve public humiliation.

I thought I heard Jane mutter under her breath; "No, not a Gryffindor" and gave her a look. Jane started to crack up, while Lila jumped back in shock. I rolled my eyes.

"Again?" I asked, fingering the ends of my hair. It had turned bright red." Lila's expression was priceless. "I'm a metamorphimagus." I explained, focusing my attention on turning my hair brown again. However I caught it at an in-between stage between brown and red, and decided I liked the look.

Lila was still in shock. "That…is…so…AWESOME!" She announced. Then she noticed someone in the crowd. "EMMICK! OVER HERE!" She called. A girl with shoulder length blond-brown hair came running over.

"Hiya!" she said cheerfully. "Who're these people, Lils?" I saw Lila grit her teeth before saying;

"Don't call me that, Emmick. This is Jennifer," she said, pointing at me, "Jane, Emma." She pointed to each of them in turn. "Guys, this is my friend Emmick." Emmick nodded happily and pulled something from her pocket. "Look, I got a wand! It's walnut, eight and a quarter inches, centaur tail hair core!" She rattled off.

"Wicked!" approved Lila. "Guess what! Jennifer's a real live metamorphimagus!"

Emmick looked surprised. "That would be two this year! That's the most in Hogwarts history!" At my confused expression, she elaborated. "Teddy Lupin's supposed to be coming to Hogwarts this year. He's a metamorphimagus too."

This news cheered me up a bit. After this, we went our separate ways. Mrs. Deerfield ushered us through the rest of our shopping. After several demolished objects, each of us got our wands. Mine was cottonwood, seven and three quarters inches long, with a core of phoenix tailfeather. Emma's was of ash, twelve and three quarters inches, and with a hippogriff tail hair core, and Jane's was mahogany, eleven and a half inches, and also with a hippogriff tail core. After the long day of shopping, We collapsed into our creaky beds and slept like rocks.

_Hope you enjoyed the super-long chapter. By the way, the address to my fic is actually _

_.com/s/2865774/1/Liberator_


	7. Train Ride

_Hi. This is Ravenclaw person. I don't own Harry Potter, but I did write nearly this whole thing. Also, Year2Hufflepuff doesn't own Harry Potter either._

**Chapter 7: Train Ride**

We got up early the morning of September 1st so we would have enough time to head down to King's Cross Station. I was confused by my ticket, which said "platform 9 ¾, but Jane assured me it was not a typo. A lot of people stared at us as we made our way to the barrier, because we had gotten owls and a scrawny black cat, which looked very strange on top of our carriages. As we arrived at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, I decided not to make any remarks, seeing as they had gotten me nowhere in the past. As Emma and I sat there in confusion, Jane's mom patiently explained that only witches and wizards could get to platform 9 ¾. This was common knowledge, to Jane who sat there rolling her eyes. We move inconspicuously towards the barrier and were enveloped in a brick wall. I don't see how Jane's cat made it through seeing as it was not a magical creature. (I hate cats by the way.) We waved good bye to Jane's mom and dragged our luggage onto the train. There was only one compartment left and it already had a boy with aqua hair in it. Jane went to sit with him and Emma and I left to find Lila and Emmick, as they were on their way to Hogwarts too.

I found them quickly. Emmick was scrambling around to find her last galleon to get a Pumpkin Pasty. Lila was curled up in the corner of the compartment, deep inside her copy of The Standard Book of Spells.

Emmick looked up.

"Jennifer! Uh… Your nose, uh, um," she pulled out a small mirror and held it up to my face. My nose had morphed into a blue dog nose.

My hands went up to my face and I turned bright red, along with my hair.

"It's okay," she said, pulling me inside. The windows darkened so that no one could see.

"Whoa!" I said. "How did you do that?"

"Smoke charm. Technically it's not allowed, but I think this is an exception."

Using Emmick's mirror, I concentrated on turning my face back to normal. My hair, though, was being stubborn, so I left it streaked in black and yellow.

"Would you believe that I got the wrong wand? About ten minutes after I met you, it went haywire and turned my eyes red. It took fifteen minutes for them to go back to normal," Emmick said. "I went back and traded it in for this one."

She held up a black wand.

"It's ebony, with phoenix tail feather core. It works much better than that walnut one. Also, it's thirteen inches.

Suddenly, Jane and a boy with striped hair burst into the compartment. I freaked out and my hair turned neon orange with purple stripes.

"Teddy! This is Jennifer! Jennifer! This is Teddy!" Jane introduced.

"Hi," Teddy said. Teddy Lupin was absolutely totally completely exceptionally THE hottest boy I had ever seen. However, he seemed to like Emmick a lot. He blushed when he saw her and looked away. "So you're the other metamorphimagus? Cool!"

My hair turned red, embarrassing me further. I looked down. "Uh… Yeah," It was really awkward.

"So, uh, what house do you think you'll be in?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Well, I hope I'll be in Gryffindor. Like my dad and godfather." he said. "He's famous, my godfather."

Jane cleared her throat loudly. "Hey, guys?"

Emma and I turned toward her. "Yeah?" I asked.

"You've know me for three years. And that whole time, you've been doing this. It's really annoying, but I've never called you on it."

"What?" I said, curious.

"You pronounce my name wrong. It's not Jane, it's Jean."

"Ooooooh. Oops." said Emma.

Emmick started laughing really hysterically. My hair turned an even brighter shade of red.

"Hey, it's not that funny!" I protested, trying to cover my hair.

"yes it is" she replied, coughing into her hand at the same time.

"Well, well, your NAME is funny! It sounds like a boy's name. Emmick. Emmick. Emmick. Definitely masculine. Like Emmett, from Twilight."

"I am slain!" Emmick cried, throwing herself on the ground.

"Even the slightest mention of Twilight makes Emmick go crazy," explained Lila. "She really hates it. To go so far as to compare her to one of the characters—"

"Well, her name sounds like Emmett!"

"—might cause severe brain damage."

"Don't worry, I'm alive you guys! I won't be killed by bad writers yet!" Emmick announced.

"You need to go to a hospital for _special _people," Jean commented sarcastically.

"Hey!"

The compartment door slid open. A fifth year poked his head in. He looked disapprovingly at the smoke charm Emmick had cast, and Emmick sitting on the floor. He stuck in bony nose in the air and told us to put on our robes, because we were almost there.

"Make sure your hair is _normal _when you arrive," he added as he left.

My hair, as if on cue, turned a deep shade of lavender. The boy left with his head in his hands, muttering to himself about crazy first year attempts at charms.

"How do you control this thing?" I asked Teddy frantically.

"I dunno," he said. I wailed and stuffed my face into the seat cushion. "But uh, you could try focusing on keeping your appearance at a chosen one that's not your normal appearance. I think your powers want to escape from your ugliness."

"Hey!"

"That's not what I meant!"

No more crush. I tried his advice anyway. So on the first day of school at Hogwarts, before I was Sorted, my hair was shocking red.


	8. Arrival

_Hey guys. Sorry again for the late update __ Musings of a Hufflepuff is now a comic series! _

**Chapter 8**

**Arrival**

I didn't know what to think when Jean, Emma, and I disembarked from the small boat. The sight before us stunned me into silence. The castle was HUGE. Tall spires spiraled into the thunderclouds. It was made of grey stone that looked as if it had been centuries. It looked magical and exciting and mysterious. We were quickly ushered through the door and got very little view of the entrance hall, filled with portraits that moved and talked to each other. We were herded into a small stone room where we quickly found Emmick and Lila. Lila looked like she was going to be sick, but nervousness seemed to affect Emmick in a different way.

"OMG, can you believe that we're finally here? The entrance hall was like, so grand, and I was like, bloody hell, and even though my parents told me all about it, I'm still, like, so surprised and excited. Are you nervous about the Sorting? I am! I hope I get in-"

Lila, apparently, knew more than us about Emmick's personality flaws.

"Emmick, SHUT UP!" she commanded not-so-gently. Emmick obeyed with an eyeroll. We all quieted down as a very thin man in aqua robes cleared his throat.

"Eh-hem. Welcome, all first-year students! I imagine you are all very excited to be here, just as I was my very first day. But, important business comes first! In a few moments, we will proceed into the Great Hall for your Sorting! Keep in mind that your House will be where you stay for the seven years you are at Hogwarts. When your name is called, you will go up to the stool and place the hat upon your head. Then the hat will judge your character and sort you into one of our four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff!" he announced.

"Did he just say the _hat_ will Sort us?" I whispered urgently to Jean. She just rolled her eyes.

"And with that, let us all head into the Great Hall!" He ushered us into a VERY large room with…wait…no ceiling? She looked again. Yep, the ceiling showed the same cloudy sky as outside. There were also candles floating in midair, which I found very confusing and irrational. I turned my attention to the podium, where a very strict-looking woman with a wide-brimmed hat and dark red robes was clearing her throat. Then, she called the first name, and the sorting began.

I watched "Adams, Carly," a tall blonde girl, became a Gryffindor. A girl with mouse-brown hair and diagonal bangs, "Crowell, Amida," became a Slytherin the moment the Hat touched her head. Then, as if no time at all had passed, the woman called, "Deerfield, Jean"

Jean stepped confidently onto the raised area, sat down on the stool, and put the hat over her head. 1 second. 2 seconds. Then the hat spoke. "GRYFFINDOR!"

The table housing the Gryffindors burst into applause. Jean's face burst into a grin as she ran over to join them. There were high-fives galore. Next to go was, "Decksworth, Emma," who was sorted into Hufflepuff looking relieved. Then, after a few more Sortings, I was called.

I walked as if I was wading through molasses up to the stool, and put the hat on with shaking hands. It fell over my eyes and there was darkness.

_You're a smart one, aren't you? _Asked the hat rhetorically. _She could do with some power, this one._

_I don't care where you put me! _I thought frantically. _Just get me off this stupid stage! Everyone's staring at me! _I'm sure the hat took this into account because a few seconds later, it yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!" into the crowd. I removed the hat and ran to sit next to Hannah.

The rest of the Sorting went well. Emmick, whose last name turned out to be Lovegood, became a Ravenclaw, Teddy, a Gryffindor, and Lila Lyndon was a Hufflepuff. I was quite relieved when it was all over, and the feast began!


	9. I Take a Thourougly Pleasant Class

_Hey guys! I know you all were waiting for this chapter so, I don't own Harry Potter, and on with the show!_

**Chapter 9:**

**I Take a Thoroughly Pleasant Class**

Before we could eat, however, the stern woman made a speech.

"Boys and girls, we welcome you today to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry! Now, although the school offers many activities which most of you would deem 'cool' I hope that you, as usual, will not allow them to become, ahem, distractions. Remember, this is a place of learning. As such, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is _strictly_ off-limits. Also, the first-years had best become acquainted with the points system on which this school runs. Each House starts the year with zero points. Good behavior will result in addition of points to your House; bad behavior will result in a detraction of points. Now, the House with the most points at the end of the year shall be awarded the House Cup! Now, I do not wish to keep you from your dinners, so, eat up!"

The food was delicious. Steak, chicken, some delicious biscuits, and then for dessert, tarts and pies the likes of which I had never tasted. It also improved my experience that all the other Hufflepuffs sitting at the table smiled at me, as if I was already their best friend. Emma, of course, had the brilliant idea to show all the other Hufflepuffs my weirdness.

"Look what Jennifer can do!" she announced. I rolled my eyes and made my hair long and blonde. Then, with a degree of difficulty, I made my skin pale green, and my ears elf ears. There was a mix of laughter and astonishment. I had definitely made an impression. I shrunk my hair back and changed it purple, a color I liked, and then opted to stick with the ears until someone made a comment.

After we had all eaten our fill, one of the older boys at the other end of the table stood up. He began to call us over. "Hufflepuff first years over here please! I'm a Prefect, so I have to show you how to get to the common room!" he called, herding us into a line. We hurried up several flights of stairs, chatting. Occasionally we halted when the boy called; "Don't use that step, you'll fall through!" or "I wouldn't mess with that portrait, he's mean!" or "No, Peeves, NOT NOW!" But soon enough we made it to a large still life of a fruit bowl. The Prefect stopped here.

"Okay, I'm supposed to let one of you lot do this." He scanned the gaggle of first-years before picking me out of the crowd. "You. Shorty." He called, and I indignantly grew several inches. "Tell it 'Quidquid tuae titillat Pech'" he told me. I repeated it to the painting, which swung open. I turned to the Prefect.

"What does that even mean?" I asked him

"Quidquid tuae titillat Pech? I think it means 'Whatever tickles your peach' in Latin." He shrugged, and we headed into the common room. It was a fairly spacious room, filled with couches covered in fuzzy blankets. There was a fireplace, in which a fire burned brightly, and several tables covered in weird wizard games. The Prefect boy showed us the round doors to the boys' and girls' dorms. I found my bed, which had my trunk stowed underneath, and promptly fell asleep on its warm softness.

I woke up the next morning to Lila dropping items on my face. Wait, was that a hairbrush? Groaning, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Lila's face was that of extreme joy, and she poked me until I was fully alert.

"What?" I moaned, trying to lie back down, but Lila punched me efficiently in the gut.

"Get up already!" She commanded, and I swung my legs to the side of the bed and stood up. "It's the first day of classes! Come down to breakfast! Mum says that the pancakes at Hogwarts are brilliant!"

I hijacked her brush to comb out my still purple hair, and then changed into a fresh robe. Lila tossed a bit of striped yellow and black fabric at me and I caught it. It was a tie. "What's this?" I asked her.

"Put it on," She told me. "We got them last night when you were asleep." I wrapped the tie around my neck and murmured to myself that yellow really didn't go with purple. After I had dressed, Lila practically dragged me to the Great Hall for breakfast.

The pancakes were EPIC. And so were the waffles, toast, scrambled eggs, and everything else I could stuff into my tiny little stomach. My housemates raised their eyebrows and I decided to slow down just a bit. By the time I had finished eating, all I could say was, "Galloping gargoyles, that may have been the best breakfast I've ever had."

"Galloping Gargoyles" was a phrase I had picked up from Jean on the train. Yes, Jean was an, ahem, interesting person.

So after that, we got our schedules. I muttered to Lila, who would know these things. "I have Herbology after breakfast. What's that?"

She smiled. "Me too. It's like, the study of magical plants, which are way more interesting than normal plants. I think you'd like it." I wasn't so sure, but we grabbed Emma and Emmick who, it turned out, also had Herbology. I guess the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were doubling on this one. We started down the big hill outside the main building. There was a convenient path leading down to the greenhouses. It was sunny that day, which put me in a _very_ good mood.

Finally, we made it to the greenhouses. I opened a door and was greeted by a blast of hot air. We headed in, and the teacher, a tall man covered in scars, showed us to our seats. I really hoped those scars hadn't come from plants.

He cleared his throat and the class fell silent. Then he spoke. "Hi. My name is Neville Longbottom, well actually, Professor Longbottom to you. I am your Herbology teacher." Suddenly, in the middle of his speech, someone raised their hand.

"Is it true you fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, the last battle of the Second Wizarding War?" Professor Longbottom smiled patiently.

"Yes, I did, but that's hardly the subject matter of this-"He was cut off by a Ravenclaw girl, who stood up and asked,

"Didn't you resist the Carrows when they were in charge? Didn't you destroy Voldemort's last Horcrux?" He nodded again, and when everyone started chatting excitedly, he buried his head in his hands, went over to a corner of the greenhouse, picked up a small tree, and whacked it against the edge of the desk. The class fell silent again.

"This," he announced, slightly peeved, "is a rare _H__erba__V__enen__i. _See these thorns?" He gestured to some 3-inch long spikes sticking out of the trunk. "One puncture on these thorns will kill you instantly. I trust that you will now pay attention to this," he gestured again to the _Herba Venini_, "And save your accounts of great battles and feats of heroics for History of Magic. Now, I need a volunteer."

I raised my hand tentatively, and sincerely hoped I wasn't volunteering to stab my finger on the _Herba Venini_. He called on me, and pulled out a plant which was covered in great big sacs. "Now, if you could just take this, and figure out how to make it purr. Don't worry, it's not deadly."

I found Emmick at her seat and mouthed, _purr?_ To her, but she just shrugged. Carefully, I stroked one of the sacs and immediately, the plant let out a soft purring sound like a happy cat. Apparently, the plant wasn't the only happy one. Professor Longbottom practically jumped for joy. "Bloody brilliant, Miss Fitzgerald! Ten points to Hufflepuff!" I grinned and returned to my seat. Lila raised an eyebrow at me.

The rest of the class, I found to be excellent. Although the plant's weren't easy to memorize or take care of, I thought it was extremely fun.

_Wow. That was long. RandR please!_


	10. I Meet Some Less Pleasent People

_I don't own Harry Potter, bla, bla, bla…etc._

**hapter 10:**

**I Meet Some less Pleasant People**

After Herbology, I trudged to History of Magic, a class taught by Professor Crofin, a pleasant young woman with dimples. She started with the Second Wizarding War, which, chronologically, made no sense to me. The girl sitting next to me yawned and put her feet on her desk.

"Miss Carrow, kindly remove your feet from the desk. I'm sure you are _exhausted _from doing absolutely nothing last night, but this is a place of learning, not a preschool nap room." Crofin said disapprovingly. The girl rolled her eyes and swung her feet off the desk. However, she seemed ticked off and chewed her gum irritably.

The professor reluctantly resumed the lesson, and I tried my best to listen, although the Carrow girl was blowing large bubbles in her gum now, which was very distracting. Finally, I sighed and tore off the edge of my notes parchment, and scrawled:

_Stop doing that, it's distracting and obnoxious._

I flicked it at her, annoyed, and continued taking notes. A few minutes later, something hit the back of my neck. It was a crumpled piece of parchment. I uncrumpled it, and it read:

_Do you really think I care, Mudblood?_

I sighed. My first insult at Hogwarts. Just peachy. I tried to focus my attention back on the lesson.

After class, I checked my schedule, and the girl came up beside me and shoved me to the ground. She then walked away, making sure to step on my timetable. She called over one shoulder; "I'm Amida Carrow. Nice to meet you. _Not._" She snickered and disappeared down the hall.

Sighing, I sat up and found a hand ready to help me. It was Emma. I took it gratefully and she hauled me up and started to help me gather my books.

"Real nice girl, isn't she?" I commented sarcastically, dusting off my timetable and putting it into my bag. Emma shrugged. We packed up my stuff and hauled it off to our next class.

"And that was pretty much what wrecked my whole day," I summed up to Lila in the Hufflepuff common room after a day filled with classed. Lila looked sympathetic and shrugged, dipping her quill in her bottle of ink. She wrote with bold, clear lines. My paper, on the other hand, was covered in ink blotches, and my quill had actually broken. 

I took one look at my parchment, the last piece of homework I had to complete, and decided to finish in the morning. I put my stuff down on the table and started up the stairs to the girls' dorm, where I promptly collapsed on my bed.

**Short chapter, but I ran out of inspiration.**


	11. I Get Really Confused

**Hi everyone! I actually worked on this chapter! And it's summer! Yay! And-**

**Jean: Shut up.**

**Me: Get back in the story, we're about to start.**

**Jean: (rolls eyes)**

_Chapter 11_

_I Get Really Confused_

"Did you hear about this?" asked Emmick as she slid into a seat next to me a week later. Technically we were supposed to sit with our own Houses, but we disregarded that rule a lot. I looked at the copy of the Daily Prophet she was holding and said something real magically intelligent.

"Whoa, the pictures move!" Emmick rolled her eyes, and pointed at the cover again.

"Not the pictures, smart one, the _article_," she clarified, handing it to me. I scanned it.

**Two Children Missing, Aurors Have No Clues, **read the headline. I looked up quizzically. Emmick took back the paper and folded it up in her pocket.

"Five years and six years old. Both Muggle-borns. Third dissapearence this month, all Muggles or Muggle-borns. Dark magic suspected." she said, tapping her wand on the table. "I don't know, but they sound connected to me."

"I think you're overthinking things a little." I pointed out, but Emmick was caught up in the theory and wouldn't let it go. Oh, well. Anyway, I played along for a little while until Emma intervened by interjecting, "I like your headband!" Of course, neither one of us was wearing a headband, so this comment made little sense, but I appreciated the effort.

"So, did you guys hear a girl went home?" asked Lila. This was news to me. I guess I wasn't as informed as I thought I was. "Well, anyway, apparently this girl had a boyfriend and Amida was jealous. So, she went after this girl and it got so bad, I hear she was looking up suicide spells." I gasped in horror. "So eventually her parents just withdrew her from the school." The table was silent. Apparently we weren't the only ones at the Hufflepuff table listening to Lila.

Quietly, Emmick whispered a question. "What house was she in?"

"Hufflepuff."

The silence got deeper. I froze with a fork hafway to my mouth. It was like time stopped. I had grown to love my "Hufflepuff Homies" over the last month, and this news was shocking. I knew only one thing, and I knew everyone else had the same realization simaltaniously. We hated Amida Carrow's guts.

–

DADA was taught by Professor Tristus, a man with a face that I was sure had a spell on it to keep it in a permanent scowl. Today he was trying to teach us _Sero, _a spell to make plants to aid in defense_, _but none of the Hufflepuffs could concentrate. In addition to the knowledge that one of their own had gone home, most of them were also Muggle-borns and were fearing for their lives. I was honestly trying to learn something, but it was just so hard. I was sitting at my desk doodling, when Professor Tristus snuck up behind me.

"Miss Fitzgreald, do you find it nessicary to doze off in my class?" I sat up so fast that I knoched my pencils off the desk. Luckily, DADA wasn't a double class, so only Hufflepuffs were there, and they wouldn't laugh at me.

"I'm sorry, Professor! It's just, I-" but he didn't let me finish.

"Whatever the excuse is, you can tell it to me in detention," he ordered. About five girls and boys stood up angrily, but Professor Tristus gave them a death glare. "Four o'clock, Miss Fitzgerald, and don't be late!" I sighed and gathered my materials.

Much later, Professor Tristus plopped a pile of papers on my desk. I examined them, then looked up at him with a doubtful expression. His scowl didn't waver.

"You are to sort these files alphabetically. No talking," he ordered, and I silently wondered who I would talk to. "Get to work!" He snapped his fingers, and I picked up a file. The whole thing took a few hours, but suddenly I stopped.

I had noticed after a while that I was sorting files on Hogwarts students, but my fingers halted on a file labled "Lila Lyndon." Out of curiousity, I looked behind me. Professor Tristus had left on a break. I peeked into the file.

Name: Lila Lyndon

Year: 1

House: Hufflepuff

Personality: Eager, Energetic, sometimes shy

Ancestry: Half Blood. Muggle father. Mother a Muggle-Born, but with distant wizarding ancestors. Distant decendant of Helga Hufflepuff.

I almost dropped the file. Then, silently, I took out my wand. "_Geminio,_" I whispered, and after a burst of light, two identical files on Lila Lyndon sat on the desk. Hurredly, I shoved one into my bag, and placed another on the sorted pile.


	12. It's Not About Me, For Once

**WHEEEEE! Okay, sorry you had to witness that. I'm on VACATION! (edit:was) Woo.**

**Emmick: Shouldn't you be telling us what Jennifer does with her recently acquired information?**

**Me: ...yeah...**

**Emmick: Can I be a ninja?**

**Me: ...no...**

**Emmick: Why not? **

**Me: Because I'm the writer and I don't want you to be.**

_Chapter 12_

_It's Not About Me, For Once._

"Oh my god," said Emmick, shocked, when I showed her Lila's file. We were in a hallway right between Ravenclaw tower and Hufflepuff corridor. Crouched in one of the many alcoves in the hallway, shadowed enough so nobody walking down the hall would see us, but not so deep that we wouldn't see anyone approaching. Normally there would be a suit of armor there, but this one had been taken away for cleaning, and thus it made a perfect hiding spot. It was past curfew, and we didn't want to be caught.

"I know right? Should I tell her?" I asked. Of course, that would be the right thing to do, but I didn't know how loudly she would react, and I didn't want anyone to know I'd stolen her file.

"Of course! It's her family history! I think she has a right to know!"she responded, confirming my sentiment that we should tell her. After all, with me thinking with my heart and Emmick thinking with her head, what could go wrong?

"WHAT?" Lila demanded, slamming down her glass of pumpkin juice on the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall. I didn't really care for pumpkin juice, although I loved Pumpkin Pasties. But that's beside the point.

"Calm, Lila. I'm sure it's no big-" I started, but she didn't let me finish.

"No big deal?** NO BIG DEAL? **I just found out that I'm the distant relative of one of the four founders of Hogwarts! And that's _**NO BIG DEAL?**_" I looked at her blankly.

"You may want to be quiet. Professor Tristus doesn't exactly know that I stole your file from his office," I warned her. The last thing I wanted was a suspension, or worse, an _expulsion_. Hogwarts was awesome.

"Oh," she said quietly. Suddenly some Ravenclaw kid's waffle blew up. I giggled. "Be serious!" she ordered.

"Sorry," I apologized. "It's kinda hard to remain focused when people's food blow up." I watched the kid's face grow red as his classmates laughed at him.

"SHUT UP, okay? Just shut up!" he cried, running from the table. Lila, Emma, and I glanced at each other. We stood up, grabbing Jean and Emmick on the way out the door. Jean looked upset to be interrupted, and I rolled my eyes. When we exited the great hall, we saw the boy sulking in a corner. He had long blond hair and blue eyes, and his blue and bronze tie was slightly crooked.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, and he looked up. He nodded silently. "What's your name?"

"Leon," he replied matter-of-factly . He didn't seem too upset anymore. I wondered why. In fact, he looked a bit pleased with his situation. Emma still looked concerned.

"So if you're not upset, why did you run all the way out here?" she inquired.

"Oh, I just wanted to get out of the blast zone," he replied. We all stared at each other for a second before we heard a sound like waffles exploding and a scream that came from the general direction of the Ravenclaw table. A few splatters of whipped cream came flying out from the great hall and splattered our new school robes. Jean seethed.

"May I curse this kid?" Jean asked us. Emmick put her hands on her hips.

"No!" she exclaimed. "He's my housemate! Pain in the butt that he is." Leon was sticking out his tongue at Lila, and I was concerned I'd missed something.

"Stalker," he said pointedly. Even I was having trouble being patient.

"Okay, that was a waste of time, and now we have to clean up," I said, heading towards the great hall. "We have more important things to deal with than some kid who blows up food." We walked silently back into the hall, and Jean immediately went back to sit with Teddy and some other Gryffindor kid. She'd been spending less and less time with us lately and I was worried about the amount of time she spent with Lupin. It had been months since his slip of words and I was starting to regret being so cold to him. He was still very cute.

We left the hall to go to our classes, but on the way to the greenhouse, me and the other Hufflepuffs ran into Amida Carrow. She scowled.

"Ah, the loser brigade," she said as if she'd been expecting us. "I expect you're still angry about Greta Hellerd." I know I shouldn't have, but found myself thinking, _so that's her name. _Silently, every Hufflepuff in the hallway drew their wands and pointed them at Amida. She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I know when I'm outnumbered." She started to walk away, then turned to me. "Nice ears." Feeling the tips of my hair turn red, I morphed my ears to a normal shape.

I was instantly comforted by several Hufflepuffs and I felt much better. I walked in the door to Professor Longbottom's greenhouse and had him pull me aside.

"Jennifer, are you okay? Your hair is red at the ends and you changed your ears back," he asked, concerned. I'd been in his class for about a month now and he had figured out the little things I do when I'm upset. I looked at him.

"Nothing's wrong," I lied blatantly and headed for my seat.

**Well then. I own nothing. Read and Review, you know the drill.**


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